Specialized garments incorporating custom or fragile buttons, such as police and fire department uniforms or costumes, utilize loop shank buttons that can be removed prior to laundering to save wear and tear on the buttons and garments. A simple button of this type is generally designated by the reference numeral 10 in the Prior Art illustration of FIG. 1, where the ornamental body 10a of the button 10 has a back face 12 from which protrudes a shank 14 in the form of a wire loop. The shank 14, which can be formed of a material other than wire, is inserted through the buttonhole 16 of a garment 18 such as a shirt, and a removable fastener arrangement, generally designated by the reference numeral 20, is secured onto the loop shank 14 to retain the button 10 in the garment 18 during its use. In the Prior Art illustration of FIG. 1, the fastener arrangement 20 includes two pieces: a washer 22 with a slot opening 22a, and a small wire spring clip 24 such as a so-called R-clip. The washer 22 is inserted over the loop shank 14 in contact with the garment 18, and the spring clip 24 is fastened onto the loop shank 14; since the spring clip 24 can shift on the loop shank 14, the washer 22 is needed to prevent the spring clip 24 from being inadvertently pulled through the buttonhole 16 of garment 18.
Obviously, it can be tedious and time-consuming to attach or remove multiple loop shank buttons using the aforementioned two-piece fastener arrangement 20. Accordingly, what is needed is a one-piece fastener arrangement that securely retains a loop shank button, while being easier to install and remove.